Expired gift cards may not be worthless, treasurer's office says

Here’s a bit of good news for anybody who ever received a gift card or gift certificate and then misplaced it, only to find it again months or years later.

Adriana Colindres

Here’s a bit of good news for anybody who ever received a gift card or gift certificate and then misplaced it, only to find it again months or years later.

Expired gift cards and certificates sometimes can be redeemed for cash, according to state Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias.

The treasurer’s office treats unused gift-card balances as a form of unclaimed property. Money in dormant checking accounts and items inside abandoned safe-deposit boxes also eventually wind up at the Unclaimed Property Division.

The Cash Dash program operated by Giannoulias’ office aims to help people retrieve forgotten money and property. Information is available at his Web site: www.treasurer.il.gov.

But redeeming the value of gift cards or gift certificates is a bit trickier than recovering funds from an old checking account. Retailers generally don’t keep track of the names of people who bought or received the cards.

Instead, retailers provide the treasurer’s office with the serial numbers from unused gift cards when they turn over any remaining balances, Giannoulias spokeswoman Kati Phillips said Friday.

That means anyone hoping to redeem an old gift card for cash must have the card’s serial number, Phillips said. Giannoulias’ office also is “willing to act as liaison” between a consumer and a retailer in instances where the treasurer’s office does not have the unused balance from a gift card, she added.

Illinois retailers are supposed to send the treasurer’s office any unused balances from gift certificates and cards, Phillips said. They can wait up to five years, and in the meantime, they can assess fees that diminish the value of the card.

Retailers that operate in Illinois but are based in another state don’t have to send the treasurer’s office any unused gift-card balances, Phillips said.

Since July 1, 1999, the treasurer’s office has paid out $288,883 in gift certificate and card proceeds to consumers, Phillips said. Nearly $39,000 of that amount was distributed in 2007, she said.

Giannoulias’ reminder about unused gift cards comes just as Illinois is about to enact a new law that says gift cards sold after Jan. 1 must not expire for at least five years. Retailers also will be prohibited from tacking on post-purchase fees that lower the value of the cards.

“We thought considering that it was the holiday season and people were going to be giving gift certificates and gift cards, that it was a good time to talk about this,” Phillips said.

Adriana Colindres can be reached at (217) 782-6292 or adriana.colindres@sj-r.com.